Getting Started with GCP

This lesson will give you step-by-step instructions to start with the Google Cloud Platform.

We'll cover the following

If you have jumped directly to this lesson, I urge you to study the previous lesson.

This lesson will start with GCP using a Google Cloud Console. We will leverage the free $300 provided by Google Cloud for the first ninety days. I am sure that you will finish this course within three months.

To activate the free trial and use the $300, you will need a Credit/Debit Card. You will not be charged until you manually allow billing using your credit card. This is purely for verification purposes.

If you have previously signed up for GCP, then a new email ID is suggested to avoid conflicts. However, it’s better to have a new email for learning purposes.

Sign-up process#

  1. Open http://console.cloud.google.com/ and sign in using the newly created Gmail ID.
Home screen when you open console for first time.
Home screen when you open console for first time.
  1. Click on the Activate button to activate the free trial.
widget
  1. In the next screen, select the country, accept the terms and conditions, and click next.
Select the country and accept the Terms of Service to continue.
Select the country and accept the Terms of Service to continue.
  1. In the next step, select account type as Individual and tax information as Unregistered Individual.
Select account type as individual.
Select account type as individual.
  1. Fill in the rest of the information and complete the transaction. After completion, you need to verify your credit card.
Click on proceed to verification.
Click on proceed to verification.
  1. Click on proceed to verification button. It will open the verification form.
Verification form to verify card.
Verification form to verify card.
  1. Fill in all the details. Open Gmail of the same email ID. You will receive the suspension email with your Billing ID. Enter that billing ID in the form shown in step 6, with a photo of your credit card.
Billing account number from email received from Google.
Billing account number from email received from Google.

Once you complete all these steps, your free trial will be activated within twenty-four hours. Check again after twenty-four hours, and you should get this prompt after clicking on the Activate button.

If you get any errors during the process, you can always contact Google Cloud support, and they will provide handholding support to get your free trial activated.

Prompt after free trial is approved.
Prompt after free trial is approved.

Qwiklabs by Google#

Meanwhile, you can explore the Google Cloud Platform using Qwiklabs.

Qwiklab provides ready-to-go cloud environments to help developers and IT professionals learn cloud platforms and software. However, these are temporary environments, and nothing is retained once the lab is completed.

  1. Head onto this Qwiklab quest.

  2. Sign in using newly created Gmail. Enroll in the quest to start a lab.

Enroll the quest by clicking on the button.
Enroll the quest by clicking on the button.
  1. Once you enroll, you will be prompted with a lab. It’s self-explanatory. A few labs are free in Qwiklab, and others are paid.
Click on Start lab and follow the instructions.
Click on Start lab and follow the instructions.

You can rest now until your free trial is ready. Once done, we will start with all the GCP topics, which will help you to clear the Associate Cloud Engineer certificate.

Why Google Cloud Platform?

Resource Structure and Inheritance